FUD#7-Mr. Ross’s claims in his third document
Solar opponents continue to try and create Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt about Utility-Scale Solar. Our Mason County school superintendent makes these claims in his part2.pdf.
- George (Larger Planning and Zoning Administrator) does not change the draft SOLAR regulation.
- Mr. Larger had since the May 1, 2019 meeting of the Maysville-Mason County Planning Commission been trying to start a discussion on solar zoning regulations.
- As the only paid staff member he researched a possible draft starting point.
- His job is NOT to regulate or to define regulations, his job is to assist the City, the County, and their appointed members of the Maysville Mason County Planning Commission as THEY define and adopt zoning regulations, he will then be responsible to interpret and enforce.
- It seems Mr. Ross expects Mr. Larger to overstep his position by asking him to change the midpoint point of discussions. While some government bodies may allow administrators to overstep their brief, I commend Mr. Larger and the other County and City leaders for resisting to pressure to do a backroom deal with any vocal minority.
- Mr. Larger and the other County and City leaders initially hoped to
- use the draft as a starting point for discussion
- hold a focus group to see if a common ground compromise could be found as a way forward.
- Judge Pfeffer originally asked me to set it up as Zoom meeting on Feb 1, 2021. This meeting was canceled due to Judge Pfeffer death.
- At Judge McNeill’s direction, it was held on Mar 17, 2021
- The emailed Agenda/Framework for this focus group stated
- Agenda/Framework:
- Introduction/Purpose – Owen
- Discussion of the ordinance using overview document – George
- Remarks on the Ledger-Independent op-ed/press release
- Explanation of the process
- Explanation of a CUP
- Do’s/Don’t’s of the ordinance draft
- Next step(s)
- Focus group comments on the ordinance
- Questions/discussion (time permitting) – George/Owen
- Anyone who wishes to make additional comments after the meeting can e-mail George Larger at georgelarger@maysvilleky.net
- As an informal non-official focus group this meeting will not be recorded.
- Ground rules:
- Everyone will be muted until it is their turn to speak; those who do not cooperate will be booted/banned.
- A speaking list of Mason County citizens will be generated within the chat.
- Everyone who wishes to speak gets three minutes.
- Anyone who wishes to add something after they have spoken will need to get in the back of the speaking line.
- After everyone who wants to speak has done so, we can have questions and/or discussion, assuming there is time remaining to do so.
- Agenda/Framework:
- I came to the meeting understanding its goal was to search for a common ground compromise ordinance that would allow Mason County to benefit from solar while also avoiding potential negative impacts. I expected such a common ground compromise could serve as a basis for a revised draft. If such a compromise had been found it could serve as a basis for the Maysville Mason County Planning and its chartering jurisdictions to commence the official process to adopt a solar zoning regulation
- I for one saw no “common ground” during the solar focus group discussion. The anti-solar group seemed opposed to ANY solar installation and only proposed “poison pill” clauses.
After the focus group, I fully understand why Mr. Larger and the other County and City leaders realized this is a highly contentious issue and adopted a new plan for enacting a solar ordinance. With that in mind, it would have been completely inappropriate for Mr. Larger to have made changes based on input from only one side.